May Newsletter

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Revealed

Is it true that there is a patch of plastic debris the size of Texas floating in the North Pacific Gyre? Yes and No. Researchers have discovered that there is a large amount of plastics floating in the ocean and they are causing a great amount of harm to marine plants and animals. How do the plastics get to the ocean and stay in a certain area for so long? Plastics travel from the sidewalk through the stormdrains and out of the outfalls. Once out of the outfalls, these plastics float into the ocean. Once plastics are in the ocean, they stay there for a long time. This is because plastics can take over 400 years to biodegrade, or break down. Since the oceans move in a clockwise manner, due to the Coriolis Effect, that plastic that gets dumped into the Pacific Ocean gets caught in the cycle and ends up conglomerating in the North Pacific Gyre. But, this garbage patch is not a huge floating landfill as you may picture. Most of these plastics are small, far apart and not easily accessible. Nonetheless, they are so plentiful that numerous birds, turtles and other marine species mistake these plastics for food. Many species of fish also get caught in plastic nets and fishing line. Because this plastic soup, as the Algalita Marine Research Foundation describes it, is not easy to clean, it is up to us to reduce the amount of plastic we use and to reduce the amount of trash traveling to the ocean.

What you can do to reduce your plastic impact on marine life:
• Buy in bulk
• Bring your own grocery bags to the store
• Keep litter, chemicals and debris out of the street gutters and stormdrains
• Re-use when possible
• Reduce consumption by avoiding excessively packaged products
• Choose products packaged in recycled materials and recycle them again when done.

Information received from
www.algalita.org